On Our Radar: Don’t Worry About the Robots

What do you do when, multiple times a week, people tell you the value of your work is $0.00? Such is the plight of the Internet-age creative, writes Tim Kreider in the New York Times. “People who would consider it a bizarre breach of conduct to expect anyone to give them a haircut or a can of soda at no cost will ask you, with a straight face and a clear conscience, whether you wouldn’t be willing to write an essay or draw an illustration for them for nothing,” he writes. He beseeches his fellow artists to stop giving it away for free. –Rachel Feintzeig

Fast Companyasked readers to weigh in with details of the biggest lessons learned during a career switch. Some said they found the benefit of following their passion, others stressed the need for transferable skills, and one who might have had a not-so-easy transition just said, “Don’t [make a switch].” –Melissa Korn

Tired of reading about all the ways robots will someday replace you at your job? Read this piece in the Washington Post, which provides a corrective to the alarmism that infuses much of the talk about how technology is eliminating middle-wage jobs. Author James Bessen argues that all those robots will require moderately-skilled humans to provide higher-touch, complementary skills and services. — Lauren Weber

And finally…

One company has found a creative way to bring more technology workers into the U.S without relying on hard-to-get H-1B visas. Unfortunately, it’s illegal. Infosys Ltd. will be fined $35 million by the U.S. government for giving short-term business visas to workers who should have been here on long-term H-1Bs, the Wall Street Journal reports. — Lauren Weber

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